


Tea and Cake

by The_Golden_Trashcan_TM



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Fantasy High
Genre: i'm having some Emotions about this girl, idk y'all it's kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Golden_Trashcan_TM/pseuds/The_Golden_Trashcan_TM
Summary: Aelwen is having nightmares and goes to the kitchen to drink some tea. There she finds Jawbone, who begins to help her process through baking
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	Tea and Cake

Ever since the Nightmare King’s Forest, Aelwen had been having a hard time trancing.

Most sleep-related ailments didn’t bother her. She was an elf, after all—she didn’t sleep. But something had changed in her after the forest. Maybe it was the close proximity to Kristen. She was a cleric of the very same goddess, though Aelwen had met Cassandra and they were nothing like they had been in the forest.

All the same, it had changed something fundamental in her. Where before her trances had been seamless nothing, she was now plagued with visions and nightmares. Trances had been one of her few escapes and now…

Now she was awake at 2 am, heading to the kitchen because she didn’t want to wake Adaine. It was the umpteenth night she had been startled out of her trance and there was some comfort that came from the kitchen. She had only been living at Mordred Manor for three months, but it was where most of her good memories were. On their fourth day back, Fig and Kristen started a small food fight that Sandra Lynn quickly stomped out. (Though Aelwen could see Sandra Lynn was happy that they were getting back into old habits.) It was the only place aside from her room that she felt even slightly comfortable.

She was going to sit and drink some tea and loiter until she felt like herself enough to go back to bed. That _had_ been the plan. Instead when she got to the kitchen, Jawbone was there. He looked a little fuzzier than usual, but there was no mistaking his frame. A year ago, she would have considered him a weak man. He was powerful but never used his strength and kind to a fault. Now, of course, she knew how strong he really was.

He turned at her slight gasp of surprise and smiled. “Hey there, kiddo. What are you doing up so late?”

“I could ask you the same.” She slipped around to the pantry, grabbing her favorite tea.

“I get restless this time of the month. Baking helps.” When she turned, she could see an array of ingredients set out.

“Does it?” She couldn’t imagine how getting dirty for so little a reward would help relieve the stress of Change.

He chuckled, deep and gruff, and she found herself relaxing almost instantly. There were few adults in her life that she could trust, and although she knew Jawbone was a good man, she still found it unsettling how easy it was to relax around him.

He turned, leaning against the counter while she continued to make her tea. “It helps because it’s something I can control. I can sit and dwell on how I have to leave you all or I can put that restless energy to use and create something out of it. Doesn’t have to be baking, but it’s what I like.”

Jawbone went back to his baking, seamlessly putting the ingredients together while Aelwen sat and watched. He was methodical in his approach, gently humming when the task didn’t require much effort, brow furrowing when it did.

She started to make it a habit to be in the kitchen when Jawbone baked. Usually it was the dead of night, but sometimes it was midday. Sometimes they struck up a conversation, sometimes they were in silence as he worked. He never asked anything of her. Never assumed and expected anything from her other than just being. She almost felt like she was suffocating in his presence—his gentle love and nurturing enveloped her as if in a hug that was almost too tight.

Almost.

The day she asked Jawbone to help was the day he was making a cake for Adaine’s birthday. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten Adaine something or even thought about it. She couldn’t take back all the years she hadn’t been there, but she could start being there now.

Jawbone laughed and patted her on the back. “Of course, you can help! Have you baked a cake before?”

“No, but how hard could it be?”

Hard, apparently, because without Jawbone’s guidance, the cake would have been a disaster. Too much vanilla and the cake would be bitter. Too little sugar and it’d be nothing more than bread. She huffed, hair falling out of her hastily put together bun as they moved on to the icing.

By the time they were done, she was covered in flour and her face was flushed from the effort, but they were done. Adaine’s cake sat on the kitchen table, marble with chocolate icing (her favorite, if Aelwen was remembering right), with sixteen candles waiting to be lit. And it was somehow beautiful in the pale light of the kitchen—and then it was blurry as tears started to fall.

Her hands were shaking as a racking sob ripped through her. She was happy and sad and elated and furious and all of them all at once. She had _made_ this. Something _good_ that the people she loved would enjoy. It was the simple act of putting it together, of using her hands for something that didn’t hurt anyone, that was too much. She had spent so long hurting and hating and scared but this! _This_ felt good and fulfilling.

Jawbone moved quickly, putting his arms around her as she cried. They stood in the kitchen, Aelwen crying for what felt like a lifetime.

They were still stood there when everyone else got back from school, Adaine gently calling her name. Aelwen turned, a huge smile plastered on her face. She sniffled, wiping the tears from her face to the surprise of everyone, but she didn’t care. She felt light as she laughed and said, “Happy birthday, dear sister.”


End file.
